A step-by-step guide to removing those annoying ads on the new Xbox 360 dashboard update.
Microsoft's streamlined metro UI has taken control over the Xbox, bringing with it a few costs gamers may not like.
I kidna liked the new dashboard at first...it's new, which is always nice, and it looks a little flashier, which is also nice.
Then somebody pointed out there's nowhere in the whole thing that doesn't have either ads or links to the marketplace, meaning you're always in their store. Now I can't unsee that, and I hate the new dashboard.
Although: The Netflix is slick. I love that.
Freelance Games (Trailer Park King, Trailer Park King Episode 2) have posted a video showcasing the various problems with the new Xbox Live Dashboard update for Indie developers.
Eurogamer: Digital Foundry investigates user feedback on the 'Metro' update.
WHAT??!! IT CAN'T BE!! NO! A negative article about Microsoft??? No the world will end?? What manner of evil is this?? Why have you unset the balance and true world order...Too much? Just trying to point out how ridiculous YOU seem when you claim the world isgunning for SONY only.
What he says here is said on sony bashing articles in reverse, however it gets tons of likes.
How do people like him ruin the site? Sure, a comment here and there can be annoying but I don't let it bother me. I'd say the people ruining this site are the ones who approve articles that have no relevance to gaming news whatsoever. That's why we come here, right? Don't blame the trolls, man! They're here for our amusement, remember?
I really hate what the dashboard has become. It's like they took the Windows Media Live app from the PC and catered it to the Kinect without any thought or consideration about the rest of us. It's pages of dumb blocks and everything is in a jumbled mess. I thought they finally got it right in the 2nd year of the NXE. This sick obsession with Kinect has been such a downfall for the heart of what gaming is. I think about 10% of the new dashboard is about gaming, the rest is just media and ads and junk.
'This sick obsession with Kinect has been such a downfall for the heart of what gaming is'
LMFAO @ pretending that supporting your device thats bundled and the selling point for over 14 million people is a 'sick obsession'.
Nah, the sick pbsession is from the people who pretend that ALL consoles support their devices in some way.
Dashboard is fine no matter whether you use Kinect or not.
Eurogamer can pick out pixels all day. Movies and shows look great from Zune to Netflix. If they have issues that are noted and they fix those issues in the future with an update then that is all that matters.
Evil
Evil,
Look dude I know you are there to always defend MS and that's cool. It's your brand or whatever, but I post to share my thoughts. And my thoughts are that the new dashboard is made for Kinect and Kinect alone. I don't like it and I don't like what the 360 has become.
U do not need kinect at all!!! U can navigate it fully using a controller in mere seconds. stop bitching please.
I think the worst part of the new dashboard is the new Netflix interface because it's meant for Kinect and not a controller. I accidently start and exit movies and I hate how movies do not have their own page now. You have change the audio, subtitles or even the episode of a TV show while it's already playing and it might be the wrong episode too. I used to use my Xbox for Netflix, now I hook up my laptop to my TV or I use my ps3.
Who is really going to watch a movie saying "Xbox Pause" or even navigate the dashboard with their hands? I'm pretty sure pressing left and right on a controller is not too complicated for people who do not play many games. For the time it takes for the little circle to fill with Kinect someone could be where they want using a controller.
@NukaCola
Couldn't agree with you more. The new dash is a crime against gamers. I don't even browse the piece of crap unless I have to. I just go straight to the game now and use the blades if I need something.
They turned something that was once great into a marketing ploy for Kinect (due to its specific Kinect centric design) and made it an ad heaven for themselves so they can earn a little extra cash. I've been a Gold member for two years and never complained about the service and I was thinking about renewing it before the new dashboard released but now I'm thankful because I waited...
Nintendo is hated more on this site when you think about it, because of all the 3DS-Doom articles, the "Nintendo should go 3rd-Party, Software-only" stories.
Video quality I havnt had an issue with. I run my 360 at 720p and I do notice a little bit of blocky-ness for the first 3-5 seconds while the streams are playing back. I think I never saw that before because the old dash would buffer a few seconds before playing and this dash is playing instantly while buffering in the background.
i have been figuring out little details that make it better each time I use it. Personally, I like the new look even though I dont use a kinect.
I love the new search and how it finds stuff I could not find before. The apps are cool and I especially like how I can use Vudu now instead of turning on my bluray player (an LG with a slow menu navigation).
The most talked about issue is the adverts which are still non-intrusive as before. Thing is, most of them are game related or have game related stuff they give you for your curiosity in checking them out. The doritos super bowl ads are worth checking out.
I figured out where to find the indie stuff before there was a thread on n4g about it. It isnt really that hard. Best feature is the quick launch where I can do my thing without flipping through the different areas. If a game or app isnt in the quick launch its because it is something I hadnt been using recently.
Just like on a PC you can either go searching for the document you want to open or find what you recently opened in the "recent documents" folder in the start menu. That is what the quick launch is equal to.
So what went wrong???? That it took MS this long to get it right for everything else even if at the sacrifice of 1080p video. Chances are they will get that sorted out soon enough.
I don't love it, but I got used to it like everything else. Still too many layers if you ask me but playing your installed game is easy enough.
Agreed, it definitely shouldn't take me as long as it does to find the market now:(
But hey, still getting used to it.
"xbox bing mass effect 3" finds me everything in the market place in a couple of seconds - personally I love the new dashboard.
I think people are just nitpicking and not seeing the future - everything is getting geared to look the same over all platforms, just like sony with their XMB
I'm still confused as to why netflix is causing people so much grief, I never have issues backing out by mistake etc, the controls are the same as they used to be as far as i can see.
It's ugly. Clearly Microsoft felt they weren't maximising the adverts on the dashboard so decided to update the ui so that all the adverts are slap bang in the middle of your screen. Whoever designed it should be fired.
whoever thought taking up 3/4 of my main screen is a good idea, or i want it, or i wont be annoyed to hell and back about it. Needs to be fired
By adverts do you mean things like "Forza 4 January DLC" or "New years resolutions" or even "EA Publisher Sale" all of these Advertizements are related to XBOX LIVE and microsoft in general, a lot of these things are things you'd want to hear about or see. The ads I believe you are reffering to are in the bottom right in a small box.
Yep the funny thing is half the people complaining about ads do not have a 360 and think every box is an ad and not just one in the corner that actually says "advertisement" on it.
Yeah but I dont want to see that stuff all over the place only if I go to the market to buy something but then u have a World of Warcraft that just crazy ads on a service I pay for
It's just a strange thing to see when you see people line up to defend advertising. Those aren't news bulletins, those are companies paying MS(not you) to tell you what you should be buying. The point is that screen space could serve much better use, perhaps a real/more effective news bulletin that isn't bought and paid for.
@rob6021
I'm actually not defending it. I'm just pointing out how ill informed people on this site are but by doing so people automatically think I love ads. Also I do not look at the news bulletin on my ps3 and would most likely not look at it if they put one on 360. Just like I do not look at the ads in the bottom right corner...
@rob6021
It's strange to see people line up to bash the new dashboard for hosting a little ad box on the bottom right of the dashboard. Seems weird how the so called "Big" "Giant" "Annoying" box in the middle of the screen which these people keep referring to is just news related, for instance, you go on music and you see the top 10 artists for the year, or on the games page there is a box INFORMING you of a DLC that has been released for a game you own. What i'm saying here is that many of you are blowing this way out of proportion. Also, I like how people say that Xbox Live is a paid service so it shouldn't have advertisements. If you've ever subscribed to a website that has and advertisement page (IGN) or even ads on videos you'll notice that if you actually do pay for the website they do remove these ads... But are all the ads on the website gone? No. Those rectangle boxes that are advertising something are still present. It's just a way for a company to make another form of income. MOST PAID SERVICES STILL HAVE ADS, it's just they aren't as big and annoying. For those of you complaining about the little box in the bottom right.
I don't see any massive issues with the layout (the video bug is annoying but it'll probably be fixed).
Its just bringing the 360 more in line with the rest of microsoft's products like windows 8 and the windows mobile and tablet interfaces. The apps all seem to share similar layouts too which makes things nicely consistent.
The previous update was definitely simpler, but a change every so often is nice.
if someone tries this, please post a confirmation, if effective.
seems like a decent idea, i just take everything with a grain of salt.
Seriously, that's a lot of work just to ignore a small box in the corner of your screen.
Get the feeling that accounts will get banned for it.
Why? lmao! Who sits on their 360 dash staring at the ads?
Seriously... This is far more work than worth it. Besides "those annoying ads"... really? They are a non issue now with the new dash. Sure they are there but they are far less intrusive as the previous dash. How great is it to login to a screen that has "play game" right there instead of having to scroll to find it?